Without surprise, we, the Shell family serve to represent the 2.5% of the American population who live the plant-based lifestyle: I am a vegan, and my wife, son, and daughter (who is due to be born next week) are vegetarians.

This is clearly not a phase in our lives; we have been this way for several years now. This peculiar yet unpopular lifestyle is undeniably a major part of our identity as a family.

I am very pleased with how the feature on The 1,000 Families Project turned out. One of my main objectives was making it clear that we live this way for health reasons; relating it back to how my health issues (eczema, dsyhidrosis, acne, pet allergies, sinus pressure and infections) all disappeared once I converted.

Looking back, I can remember how I had misguided, preconceived ideas about people who didn’t eat meat (and/or eggs or dairy). I remember assuming vegans and vegetarians must not be getting enough protein or that they must feel weak and low on energy all the time or that they are secretly hungry. For me, it was always a given that vegans and vegetarians must be underweight; being malnourished.

In reality, since becoming a vegan, it’s true I lost a couple dozen pounds, but I have also remained in the perfect weight range for my age and height. To actually live this way has shown me the truth about how this actually works.

It’s important to me that I serve as a rational spokesman for the vegan/vegetarian lifestyle. At the same time, I keep a Libertarian approach. Like I mentioned in my recent video, one of the rules of being a cool vegan is to not talk about being a vegan, unless someone asks first.